Photo courtesy of US Track & Field
TOKYO -- Two relay golds on the track solidified Team USATF as the world’s best track and field team, and extended its dominance atop the medal table on the final night of competition at Olympic Stadium. Allyson Felix became the most medal-winning track and field American overall, earning her 11th career medal and helping the U.S. to 26 total medals, 17 more than any other nation. American dominance also extended to the scoring table as the nation scored 262 points, 156 more than the next highest country.
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Women’s 4x400m Relay final
Coming together to run the third-fastest time in Olympic history and the fifth-fastest ever, Team USATF crushed the competition and sprinted to gold in 3:16.85, more than three seconds ahead of the silver medalists from Poland.
For the first time at the Olympic Games, the U.S. had a team comprised of four women who had already medaled in individual events, and 400m hurdles world record holder and gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin (Playa Vista, California / USATF Southern California) put the squad in control immediately with a 50.21 leadoff leg. Allyson Felix (Los Angeles, California / USATF Southern California), bronze medalist in the 400m, extended the lead with a 49.38 on the second circuit before 400m hurdles silver medalist Dalilah Muhammad (Fort Worth, Texas / USATF Southern California) roared to a 48.94 and closed the door on all challengers. That left the youngest member of the team, 800m gold medalist Athing Mu (Trenton, New Jersey / USATF New Jersey), who capped off a remarkable year with a solo 48.32 and gave the U.S. the largest margin of victory in Games history.
This win gave Felix her 11th Olympic medal and seventh gold to cement her status as the most decorated woman in Olympic track and field history. She also passed Carl Lewis on the total medals table to take over as the most medal-winning track and field American overall.
Men’s 4x400m Relay final
Dominating the deepest Olympic final ever to close out events on the track, Team USATF rolled to gold in 2:55.70, the second-fastest time in Olympic Games history and the fourth-fastest overall.
Michael Cherry (Inglewood, California / USATF Southern California) ran a stellar 44.26 carry, but Michael Norman (Sherman Oaks, California / USATF Southern California) put the U.S. in front with a 44.03 split on the second leg. That put the pressure on Bryce Deadmon (Houston, Texas / USATF Gulf) to maintain the lead on the third circuit, and he did just that with a 44.01 that set up 400m hurdles silver medalist Rai Benjamin (Mount Vernon, New York / USATF New York) to extend the gap over the first half of his anchor leg and finish with a stunning 43.40 and give the nation its 18th gold in event history.
Women’s High Jump final
Going over her first three heights with ease, clearing 1.84m/6-0.5, 1.89m/6-2.25 and 1.93m/6-4 almost effortlessly, Trials champion Vashti Cunningham (Las Vegas, Nevada / USATF Nevada) then needed two attempts to navigate 1.96m/6-5. She missed twice at 1.98m/6-6 and saved her third attempt for 2.00m/6-6.75, but wasn’t able to clear that bar and ended up sixth, moving up seven places from her debut at Rio in 2016.
Men’s 1,500m final
Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen sprinted to the front from the gun and took the field through 400m in 56.2, with Trials champion Cole Hocker (Indianapolis, Indiana / USATF Indiana) at the back in 57.4. The 20-year-old Hocker started to move up and was 11th with two laps to go and went by 800m in 1:53.8 but had a huge swath of track to make up on the leaders as they were at 1:51.8. Ninth at the bell, Hocker pushed up to 7th with 200 left and turned on his jets to fly down the final stretch and obliterate his lifetime best with a 3:31.40 that placed him sixth.
Hocker’s time elevated him to No. 8 on the U.S. all-time performer list. Ingebrigtsen won in an Olympic record 3:28.32 to vanquish world champion Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya, who took silver in 3:29.01, with Britain’s Josh Kerr getting bronze in 3:29.05.
Women’s 10,000m final
As the field went through the first kilometer in 3:03 they were beginning to string out due to a pace that was sub-31 minutes, and the three American representatives were comfortably spaced throughout the front half. Passing by 3km in around 9:12, Emily Sisson (Phoenix, Arizona / USATF New England), Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa / USATF Oregon) and Alicia Monson (Boulder, Colorado / USATF Colorado) were running very close to each other and through the next kilometer they were still together in what had become a second “chase” pack behind the lead group that included world record holder Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia and 5,000m winner Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands.
Rapid pace really started to thin things out by the halfway point, with the lead six going through 5km in under 15:10, followed nine seconds later by Schweizer, Monson and Sisson. Even more real estate appeared between the front four and the trailing groups, as could be expected when there is such a disparity in lifetime bests between the best of the best and the rest. Schweizer was the first U.S. woman past 6km in 18:28.8, 24 seconds behind the medal contenders and only a few steps ahead of her American counterparts.
Sisson eased to the front of the U.S. trio in places 11-13 at 7km, 38 seconds behind the fourth runner in the lead quartet. Gidey, Hassan and Bahrain’s Kalkidan Gezahegne dropped Kenya’s Hellen Obiri at the 8km mark with a 2:55 kilometer split, and that threesome had almost a minute lead of the U.S. runners. The medals were virtually set with two laps to go as Gidey continued to lead in the cat-and-mouse game for hardware, and Schweizer had gone to 12th in front of Sisson as Monson started to drop back.
Showing that five long races and two medals earlier in the week hadn’t completely taxed her legs, Hassan unleashed a fabulous closing kick off the final turn to win in 29:55.32. Gezahegne was closest in silver medal position at 29:56.18, and Gidey settled for bronze in 30:01.72 after being unable to respond to Hassan’s superior speed.
Sisson was the first American across the line, taking 10th in a very respectable 31:09.58, followed by Schweizer in 12th in 31:19.96 and Monson 13th in 31:21.36 to complete a fine team effort.
Full session results are available on the World Athletics website. The final event of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Men’s Marathon, will begin Saturday at 6 P.M. ET / 7 A.M. Sunday local on USA Network.
Stay up-to-date by following USATF on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok and using the hashtag #TeamUSATF.
USATF Medal Count (26)
Gold (7)
Women’s Discus Throw - Valarie Allman
Women’s 800m - Athing Mu
Women’s 400m Hurdles - Sydney McLaughlin
Men’s Shot Put - Ryan Crouser
Women’s Pole Vault - Katie Nageotte
Women’s 4x400m Relay - Sydney McLaughlin, Allyson Felix, Dalilah Muhammad, Athing Mu (Prelims: Kaylin Whitney, Wadeline Jonathas, Kendall Ellis, Lynna Irby)
Men’s 4x400m Relay - Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon, Rai Benjamin (Prelims: Trevor Stewart, Randolph Ross, Bryce Deadmon, Vernon Norwood)
Silver (12)
Women’s Shot Put – Raven Saunders
Men’s 100m – Fred Kerley
Women’s 100m Hurdles - Keni Harrison
Women’s Long Jump - Brittney Reese
Men’s 400m Hurdles - Rai Benjamin
Men’s Pole Vault - Chris Nilsen
Women’s 400m Hurdles - Dalilah Muhammad
Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase - Courtney Frerichs
Men’s 200m - Kenny Bednarek
Men’s 110m Hurdles - Grant Holloway
Men’s Shot Put - Joe Kovacs
Women’s 4x100m - Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, Jenna Prandini, Gabby Thomas (Prelims: Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, English Gardner, Aleia Hobbs)
Bronze (7)
4x400m Mixed Relay – Trevor Stewart, Kendall Ellis, Kaylin Whitney, Vernon Norwood (Prelims: Elija Godwin, Lynna Irby, Taylor Manson, Bryce Deadmon)
Women’s 800m - Raevyn Rogers
Women’s 200m - Gabby Thomas
Men’s 200m - Noah Lyles
Men’s 5,000m - Paul Chelimo
Women’s 400m - Allyson Felix
Women’s Marathon - Molly Seidel
World Records (1)
Women’s 400m Hurdles - Sydney McLaughlin (51.46)
American Records (3)
Men’s 400m Hurdles - Rai Benjamin (46.17)
Women’s 800m - Athing Mu (1:55.21)
Women’s 400m Hurdles - Sydney McLaughlin (51.46)
Olympic Records (1)
Men’s Shot Put - Ryan Crouser (23.30m/76-5.5)
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